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Dimitri Escalus
Dimitri Escalus is a character from the Medieval game universe, though he did not appear in the game itself. He is the second youngest of the Escalus siblings, and the only one to remain in Heleos aside from the heir, Filipe. Dimitri takes it upon himself to act more or less as Filipe's adviser and emotional anchor, keeping his often neurotic brother grounded. Backstory Dimitri Escalus is the third son of Olander Escalus, and like his eldest brother Anders he was born without any inherent magical ability. Their father was strongly partial to mage children, and he would end up disinheriting Anders in favor of his second son Filipe, who actually could do magic. Dimitri had somewhat of an advantage over Anders in that he was never in line to inherit, thus he was never set up with expectations he would then fail to live up to. However, this also meant that he never had much attention paid to him while he was growing up. Anders was his closest friend for a long time, but when the eldest Escalus son ran away to become a fireknight in Solis when Dimitri was only eight, the youngest son found himself rather at loose ends most of the time. Bored and lonely, he spent the majority of his free time in the kennels or stables talking to and petting the house dogs and horses. The loneliness eventually gave rise to a bit of a penchant for seeking attention. In his teenage years Dimitri discovered the easiest way to get the positive attention he so badly wanted was by flirting. Not at all loathe, the quiet child turned into a an extremely charismatic young man who gave out kisses and compliments like party favors. When initially Olander informed Dimitri of his betrothal to Grace Cressida, the young man was somewhat incredulous. Being a younger son, he'd never figured that he would be much of a catch for someone to marry their eligible daughters to. Dubious of the whole affair, he nonetheless did make a token effort to woo his new wife, besieging her with the same charm and flirtations he was by that point long practiced at. However when Grace- shy, sheltered, and sixteen to Dimitri's twenty- proved unperceptive, he eventually lost interest in her. Dimitri fell back on his flirtatious ways. For two years after their marriage he spent more time schmoozing with pretty women than paying attention to his wife, and though she was not oblivious to this Grace was too shy and unconfident to say anything about it. Things came to a head when Grace became pregnant. Depressed, lonely, and hormonal, she finally confronted Dimtiri on his behavior. Horrified, the young man realized that by favoring other women over her and unabashedly flirting, he was putting her through the same neglect and loneliness he'd suffered all his life. He immediately cut off all flirtations and devoted himself to Grace, doing everything in his power to prove his remorse and make amends. Though the thaw was understandably very slow, Grace did eventually come to open up to and trust her husband. More Soon Appearances * Inheritance - Dimitri appears briefly, speaking to Anders before the eldest Escalus brother leaves Heleos permanently, and promising that he'll look after Filipe. * Once Upon Another Time: Part One - Dimitri, his wife Grace, and his in-laws Basil and Astra Cressida travel to Medieville for King Starmey's funeral. Astra, as an Ascension and Queen Maia's adoptive daughter, is attending out of respect and obligation towards her family. Grace is going to support her mother, and Dimitri is along so Grace doesn't have to be alone with her parents. It's going to be a long two weeks. * Once Upon Another Time: Part Two - Dimitri meets Grace's grandmother, the queen mother Maia. Maia threatens Dems with royal retribution if he is ever a bad husband for Grace, scaring him out of his wits. In an effort to unwind, Grace and Dimitri drink an inadvisable amount of hard liquor, but fortunately have enough sense to sleep it off before shenanigans can really ensue. * Once Upon Another Time: Part Three - After the feast, Dimitri and Grace decide to take a walk to unwind. Unfortunately, they make the slight error in judgement of going for their walk in the middle of the woods late at night, and have a frightening encounter with the rebels known as the Shadows. * Once Upon Another Time: Part Four - Dimtiri and Grace take a trip into the market, only to again encounter one of the Shadows from the night before, this time working at a shop. She makes some passive-aggressive commentary towards the two nobles that badly unnerves them. * Once Upon Another Time: Part Five - Dimitri and Grace decide to attend the Medievillian's Midsummer Festival, but have an unexpected run-in with Joffery and Charles Jade. After a disconcerting conversation, they opt to leave the festival and just enjoy themselves by the shore of Lake Plume. * Once Upon Another Time: Part Six - Dimitri accompanies his wife and mother-in-law out for tea, and has an unexpected run-in with their Courdonian relative, Victor Pipp. Victor says and does some things that make Dimitri very nervous, but Astra and Grace dismiss his concerns and insist Victor would never hurt them. * Once Upon Another Time: Part Seven - At Princess Destiny's coronation, Courdonians attack in force. Dimitri is badly hurt protecting Grace and Astra, and all three of them are saved at the last minute by Victor Pipp, though Pipp makes it clear that if the Courdonians win the battle Dimitri will not be spared. * Once Upon Another Time: Epilogue - Fortunately the Courdonians don't win the battle. Dimitri is given medical attention for his wounds, and again speaks with Queen Maia, who is far warmer with him after he saved Grace and Astra's life. Grace and Dimitri are relieved to be alive, and can't wait until they can finally go home. * Dominion Part 3 - Dimitri appears to tell Heather of the death of their father, Olander, and ask Cyril to look after her (not knowing at the time that Cyril was already under the influence of a love potion.) Later on, Dimitri accompanies Heather to Astralogos to formalize her marriage to Cyril. * A Funeral Fit for a Queen - Dimitri and Grace reluctantly return to Medieville, this time for the funeral of Queen Maia. Their daughter Rhea accompanies them to meet Grace's extended family. Thanks to said family, drama ensues. * Virtue and Trust - When Grace's brother Wynn, lord of House Cressida, decides to pay his relatives a visit while getting his son Linden tested for archmagery, Dimitri is initially optimistic about introducing his brother-in-law to his and Grace's children. However, Wynn sees what he presumes to be evidence of adultery in the twins Juliet and Odin, and from there continues to make crass, insulting accusations that strain Dimitri's temper to the breaking point. * Seeds of a Better Life - Dimitri appears in the final part of this fic, explaining about how his daughter Juliet lopped off most of her fiery ginger hair after Lord Wynn drunkenly accused her of being illegitimate. He then lightens the mood by trying to help Grace welcome their new family member, his nephew Linden, recently married to Filipe's daughter Catia. * Reversal of Fortune - A much older Dimitri is relieved to hear of his niece Elisabeth's escape from the Courdonian Slave Revolution, and helps her and her children settle in at Escalus Manor after their flight from Courdon. Personality As a child Dimitri was rather neglected by his parents when he proved not to have magic. Seeing the frequent nasty fights that broke out between his father and his older brother Anders over Anders' similar "deficit," Dimitri developed a strong aversion to conflict. He preferred to keep quiet, keep to himself, and not make waves. This is a trait he would carry with him for the entirety of his life, one that both helps and hinders him depending on the situation. While his cool head helps him to be an excellent mediator, his aversion to arguing with anyone- especially his family- leads him to be extremely passive and often go along with things he knows are a bad idea. However, Dimitri is also a very open, accepting man, refusing to judge people for not conforming to his (or societies') expectations. He encourages everyone around him to be true to themselves and their own desires. He is friendly, has a keen sense of humor, and can be extremely charming and charismatic when he wants to be. His often negligent upbringing means that for a long time in his youth he had no real concept of loyalty or impetus to put much thought into other people's feelings. After all, no one had ever done that for him, so he had no one to learn it from. This led to him being something of a flirt, even after he was married. However when his eyes were opened to how much his actions were hurting his wife, he realized he was effectively putting her through the same neglect and unfavoritism he'd had to suffer in his youth, and sorely regretted it. Dimitri grew from that experience, and later in life the same negligence that triggered his wandering inspired him to be extremely devoted to the people who truly cared about him. Relationships Anders Escalus When they were both younger, Dimitri and Anders were fairly close considering their sizable age difference (about seven years). They related well with one another on account of their mutual lack of magical ability and the face that their father Olander largely ignored them. Dimitri kept Anders from becoming completely closed off emotionally, and he was the only Escalus that Anders trusted with the fact that he was planning to run away to Solis. They haven't seen each other since, but Anders final request to Dimitri- to look after Filipe- would ultimately have a huge impact on both Dimitri and the house as a whole. Filipe Escalus Dimitri and Filipe were never very close as kids. Filipe was usually too busy with his heir training to be involved much in the life of his nonmage younger brother, and Dimitri for his own part felt a great deal of indifference towards Filipe. Unlike Anders Dimitri wasn't especially jealous of his brother, but nor was he warm with him. However after Dimitri was married and started to find his place a little better, he opened up more to Filiipe. After the death of their father, Dimitri finally remembered the request Anders had made for him to look after Filipe, and took it upon himself to support his brother as Filipe rose to lordship. The two of them became a lot closer as adults than they ever were as children, with Dimitri Filipe's most trusted confidant and right-hand man. In situations where Filipe can't be present for one reason or another, it is usually Dimitri who is given full diplomatic accord in his stead. Heather Escalus If Dimitri was distant from Filipe when the two were growing up, it isn't an exaggeration to say that he had no relationship at all with his younger sister Heather. Being the youngest, the only daughter, and a powerful mage, she was the apple of his parents' eyes and spoiled rotten. Dimitri mostly ignored this, and for her part Heather ignored him right back, though she occasionally made it a point to give Dimitri a kind word or favor so as to stay in his good graces. As such he always considered her a spoiled girl but generally decent as a person. He never suspected anything odd about her relationship with Cyril Oberon, and was horrified when he found out she'd tricked her family and Cyril's by drugging her husband with love potions. Grace Escalus In spite of the rocky start of their relationship, Dimitri and his wife Grace are remarkably close. He never for a minute takes for granted the remarkable leap of faith Grace made in opening up and trusting him after the way he hurt her during the early years of their marriage. In Grace Dimitri found something he'd never gotten from anyone else before- acceptance, friendship, and the sense that he had somewhere and someone with whom he belonged. As such he considers his marriage to her the best thing that ever happened to him. Though they do have quite a few points of friction- Grace is stubborn, brash, often overconfident, and by virtue of knowing Dimitri as well as she does knows exactly what buttons to push to manipulate his emotions- for the most part the two of them get along very well and are each other's best friend. Exactly how deep the friendship goes is somewhat of a point of ambiguity. Over time they do develop a deep familial love for one another, but just to what degree that love is platonic or romantic is blurry. Either way, they are very close as husband and wife, and will readily lean on each other for support through good times and bad. Chelsey Barrow Secretive mage kid he and his brother take in. Wynn Cressida Brother-in-law he despises Category:Medieval characters Category:Non-game characters Category:Corvids Category:Minor Nobles